Possumblog

Like the swallows to Capistrano...

...or the buzzards to Hinckley, Ohio, some things are always faithful to return--Clinton: Right-wing conspiracy is back

By DEVLIN BARRETT
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton told Democrats Tuesday the "vast, right-wing conspiracy" is back, using a phrase she once coined to describe partisan criticism.

Speaking to Democratic municipal officials, the New York senator used the term to hammer Republicans on election irregularities. [...]

Audience members said the smell of irony in the room was as thick and heavy as the junior Senator's ankles. Bursting in halfway through the meeting, Ted Kennedy screamed that he would lead a charge against Republican policitians who drink and drive. And then passed out.

[...] On Tuesday, she asserted the conspiracy is alive and well, and cited as proof the Election Day 2002 case of phone jamming in New Hampshire, a case in which two Republican operatives pleaded guilty to criminal charges, and a third was convicted.

"To the New Hampshire Democratic party's credit, they sued and the trail led all the way to the Republican National Committee," Clinton said.

"So if anybody tells you there is no vast right-wing conspiracy, tell them that New Hampshire has proven it in court," she said. [...]

Well, not to split hairs, but three people seems rather less than vast. Especially since none of them are Michael Moore.

[...] New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan said she absolutely agreed with the senator's description of the case.

"People think we're paranoid when we talk about the vast right-wing conspiracy, but there is a real connection of these groups — the same names keep popping up," said Sullivan. "They are the most disgusting group of political thugs that I have ever seen." [...]

Blindness being a rather convenient thing on occasion. And by the way, I don't think you're paranoid, I just think you're a addlepated Democrat. But I repeat myself.

[...] [Clinton] also said the government should do more to end unusually long lines at certain polling places.

"It just so happens that many of those places where people are waiting for hours are places where people of color are voting or young people are voting. That is un-American, and we're going to end it," Clinton said.

Well, sadly the easiest way of ending it is to require that people have enough brain cells to be able to quickly and efficiently mark a flippin' ballot.

Of course, as we have seen countless times, this would doom the Democratic Party.

Just remember, precinct workers come from the precinct in which they live. If the precinct is overwhelmingly Democratic, it generally will follow that the election officials and volunteers are likewise going to tilt Democratic as well. This might be the source of the problem, since the various tasks require skill and organization of a relatively minor nature, as well as a disposition not to blame sunspots or superstition for rank incompetence. Allowing Democrats to run things like this is just asking for problems.

Anyway, it all boils down to the fact that there is no need for a vast right-wing conspiracy when the people supposedly on the short end of the conspiracy are so highly capable of defeating themselves.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at March 13, 2007 10:54 AM